Saturday, March 16 - Monthly Meeting at Seven's, 8:30am​Come early for breakfast

March 30 - Ride to the PinnaclesLots of fun events coming up. Glad you are planning on attending.Find the Monthly Calendar on the Rides Page

﻿﻿﻿Valley Riders﻿﻿﻿

Welcometo Valley Riders, an independent riding group that enjoys riding, socializing over great food, and the company of like minded bike enthusiasts. We have a diverse group of members as well as motorcycles. As long as you enjoy riding you'll find a place with Valley Riders. We are located in the Central Valley of California less than 2 hours from Yosemite (60 miles) and 2 1/2 hours to Pismo Beach (150 miles). Our base is in Fresno, which allows for some great mountain riding as well as coastal rides.

Our members live in Fresno and the surrounding areas including Madera, Kingsburg, and Lemoore. As a new motorcycle riding group we meet the third Saturday of the month at the Yosemite Falls restaurant located at Hwy 99 and Ashlan Avenue in Fresno. We meet at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast, talk, and to share information on upcoming rides. Often we will plan a ride following our monthly meeting to some fun destination.

Our members are made up of Military veterans, school teachers, truck drivers, retired and working folks. Our rides may be only a few hours to more local destinations such as museums, a chocolate factory or interesting restaurant to longer rides to the coast or mountains to beat the heat. No matter where we go we have a great time. You may also find great overnight rides to destinations such as Tahoe. Many of our members have ridden to national parks, motorcycle rally's, and several have experienced the Ride to Wall in Washington D.C. You don't need to go on all the rides, you just pick your favorites and enjoy the company of good friends and the freedom of the road. Valley Riders began in March of 2014.

Small Talk

Dinner Social in March 14, 2019

This month we visited Westwood BBQ in Fresno. Everyone was ready for some BBQ and we weren't disappointed. Our group of 15 had a cozy room to ourselves in the back of the restaurant. They were plenty busy so it was nice to have a quiet place we could hear and talk.. Doug and Coral were heading out on Friday for Arizona so it was a great time to wish them well. Ruth made the best German Chocolate cake that we all shared. Thank you Ruth as this really made it special for Coral and Doug. They will be missed, so we'll just have to ride to Arizona to visit.

Ride to Runway Cafe Right after our meeting on Saturday, March 16 we have 8 bikes and a car head off to Woodlake. Dennis had a ride meeting and it was decided we'd head out Shaw Ave. All went well until we got to the 180 and because of traffic we were separated. The front group continued up the 180, while the second group headed towards Reedley at the fork. The good part was that everyone knew the final destination and the ride continued as two smaller groups. It all worked out and as we got closer to Woodlake Oscar kept saying he could hear Jerry and within minutes of our arrival to Runway Cafe the first group rolled in. It made for some fun conversation. Not everyone has a CB, and you never know when the group will caught up in heavy traffic. We all arrive about the same time, Vern got our name on the list and we had a group of about 10 for lunch. The ride from Seven's to Runway Cafe took about an hour and 20 minutes. Nice ride, great weather and we certainly had a good time visiting with other riders. The ride back was over to Hwy 99, then North and we were back within an hour. Great ride, be safe.

Jan 1, 2019 Frozen Bun Memorial Run

Meetings

​ NEXT MEETING IS SATURDAY,April 20, 2019 - Seven's RestaurantHello Riders: On Saturday, March 16, 2019 we held our monthly meeting at Seven's. Sindi welcomed everyone and announced that this is the 5th Anniversary of the Valley Riders. We recognized Jim and Caren for their work as the first leaders, then Jerry stepping in last year and now Sindi taking the admin spot for a while. Jim shared with the group a few reasons why we came to be. It was great to celebrate the new faces as well as the faces that many of us have known over the years. John T referenced all the birthdays and anniversaries for this month and into April. A big Happy Birthday to you and those celebrating another year of marriage. Jim talked about the first ride of the year for many and it's really important to take a good look at your bike before you head down the road. How's the oil, your tires and the overall condition of your bike. Another topic of conversation was to not become to complacent when getting on the road. Jim shared that vehicle collusions have gone up by 35% over last year. Distracted driving, driving while intoxicated and just not paying attention. It was a good conversation and discussion. Dennis reminded everyone of the ride today to Woodlake and Runway Cafe. He planned to take us through the back hills and into Woodlake. Other Rides: Dennis reported that the Post is holding a Rider Safety seminar on March 23. It's free of charge but you should contact Dennis to reserve your spot. These education opportunities don't happen often so it's recommended. March 30: Ride to the Pinnacles is on the calendar. Sounds like a great full day ride. Dennis will send information soon. He has a lot on his plate, so if you don't hear from him please give him a call or email. On April 12 a 3 day, 2 night ride to the USS Iowa is happening. This ride is in conjunction with the Post 509. Interesting trip down south. See De nnis or Jerry for more information. Our next meeting is on Saturday, April 20, 2019. Following the meeting we'll be going to Exeter to view the Murals. They have a guided walking tour that cost $2. Charlie shared with the group how interesting the murals are trying to find the hidden objects. This month in celebration of the 5th Anniversary all breakfast for those in attendance were covered by the Valley Riders. Sorry if you missed out, maybe next time. Thank you Valley Riders and to another 5 years! This month 50/50 went to John T. Congratulations on your $40 win. Next month our meeting is Saturday, April 20 at 8:30am at Seven's Restaurant. See you there.

I am always looking for pictures from rides or write-ups from your experiences to add to our website. We no longer have a monthly newsletter and the website belongs to Valley Riders. Send you articles and pictures to Sindi, smcguire@csufresno.edu. In addition if you know of rides that may be of interest to our members send me a copy of their flier or all information.

Information Videos

Valley Riders Motorcycle Group: Our group has been in existence since March 2014 with more than 65 members. The group has traveled quite a few miles in a short period of time. We’ve traveled along the Coast of California to places like Moss Landing, Monterey, Cambria, Santa Cruz, Pismo Beach, Carmel, Big Sur and Avila Beach (Annual Frozen Bun Run), San Jose (Lick Observatory), Danville (Blackhawk Car Museum), Fairfield (Fairfield Brewery), Paso Robles (Estrella War Birds Museum). We traveled to places in Central California like Hilmar (Hilmar Cheese Factory), Porterville (Stafford Chocolate Factory), and Hanford (Superior Dairy). We have also traveled to the mountains of California to places like Kings Canyon National Park / Sequoia National Park, Huntington Lake, Three Rivers, San Joaquin River Delta (Delta Loop), Kings River (Cedar Grove), Mariposa (Mt Bullion) and Groveland (Airport Ride to Ken and Linda Stark’s home). We’ve traveled to overnight places like Sacramento (Gold Rush Ride) and along the Northern Coast of California (North Coast Ride). And of course, we traveled locally within the Fresno (Forestiere Underground Gardens, Grizzly Baseball Game) /Clovis (Dan Rouit Museum) area. We can’t forget about all the great places we ate at. There are too many to mention, but our Annual Family and Friends Picnic and of course, the Christmas Party at Cosmopolitan Bar and Grill are always our favorites.

Safety is always an important element while we traveled the open roads of our country. We have had Parking Lot Practices and CPR/ First classes to keep us and our motorcycles fined tuned. We want to thank our Safety Coordinators Jerry Gregg and John Cunningham, Randy Patrick and Randy Hopkins for all the practice on our motorcycles. We would also like to thank Jerry and Jamie Slater for teaching us the proper techniques of CPR and First Aid.